Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert KolkerMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
This had an interesting beginning that seemed straight out of a TLC reality show. Take an XL family of 12 kids, all but the youngest two are boys. Describe the difficulties of raising a large family, while also sharing some unusual family hobbies, here falconry. Start telling the story chronologically. After a long introduction, then start filling in the realization that the children are slowly revealing similar, often drastic, often violent mental issues. Focus on the youngest kids, the girls, who gradually realize they may be the next to be afflicted, while their parents split them up, sending one away to school while keeping the other with the now often dangerous brothers and no protection. It starts like “Cheaper by the Dozen” and ends like a Hitchcock movie.
I found the story of passing interest, although by the ¾ mark I was hoping for a quick ending. This seemed like such a unique family that I didn’t learn much that I felt was relatable or usable, but I can see where science would see the family as a goldmine for further study. This is one of those stories that generally got worse for the family members as time went on, and while the author played up the benefit to scientific study, this was a very draining book to read. I appreciated the way the author wrote this story, though, as I can’t picture a better way to portray the mental illness and family dynamics it caused for this large family.
Read along with a college alumni online reading club. This is one of those books where it is valuable to get other peoples opinion on the events and to share some angst.
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